AuthorTopic: Turning a router into an AP. (Read 997821 times)

Disclaimer: Using a router turned in to a Bridge or Relay is not sanctioned nor supported by D-Link for certain model router. D-Link does not support or develop any firmware modifications for there routers that have a Bridge or Relay feature. This process described here is solely of end user experiences and observations. As such, router owners who choose to use this procedure do at there own risk.

If you are connecting the D-Link router to another host router to use as a wireless access point and/or switch, you will have to do the following before connecting the router to your network:• Disable UPnP™• Disable DHCP• Disable WAN dependent features: Virtual Server, Application and Port Forward Rules, Access Control and Web Filters, SPI and Firewall, Time, WISH and WPS.• Change the LAN IP address to an available address on your network. The LAN ports on the router cannot accept a DHCP address from your other router. Recommend using 192.168.#.50-.59 for the IP address for the AP.

To connect to the router you want to turn into an AP, please follow the steps below:1. Plug the power into the router. Connect one of your computers to the router (LAN port) using an Ethernet cable. Make sure your IP address on the computer is 192.168.#.xxx (where xxx is between 2 and 254). Please see the Control Panel/Networking section for more information on the PC. If you need to change the settings, write down your existing settings before making any changes. In most cases, your computer should be set to receive an IP address automatically in which case you will not have to do anything to your computer.

2. Open a web browser and enter http://192.168.#.1 and press Enter. When the login window appears, set the user name to Admin and leave the password box empty. Click Log In to continue.

4. Click Setup and then click Network Settings. Uncheck the Enable DHCP Server checkbox. Click Save Settings to continue. Ensure to disable all of the following options as they will be no longer needed or usable while using this mode: Virtual Server, Application and Port Forward Rules, Access Control and Web Filters, SPI and Firewall, WISH and WPS.

5. Under Setup or Basic/Networking, enter an available IP address (192.168.#.50) and the subnet mask of your network, usually 255.255.255.0 or .255. Click Save Settings to save your settings. Use this new IP address to access the configuration utility of the router in the future. Also turn off or disable other features on the AP router, I.e. Port Forwarding, Firewall, WISH, WPS and any email logging. Save the settings. Close the browser and change your computer’s IP settings back to the original values as in Step 1.

6. Disconnect the Ethernet cable from the AP router and reconnect your computer to your network.

7. Connect an Ethernet cable in one of the LAN ports of the AP router and connect it to your host router. Do not plug anything into the Internet (WAN) port of the router that your turning into an AP. Use the LAN ports only.

8. You may now use the other 3 LAN ports to connect other Ethernet devices and computers. To configure your wireless network, open a web browser and enter the IP address (192.168.#.50) you assigned to the router. Recommend using Mixed G and N or Single G or N modes. Refer to the Configuration and Wireless Security sections for more information on setting up your wireless network.

NOTE: It's been said that you can use the same SSID between the host router and the AP. You can use the same SSID and security settings as the other however...make sure you do not use the same channel. Host router set for 1 or 6 and the AP set for 6 or 11. This works perfectly at all times and your wireless card will select the AP with the best connection. This will enable you to walk around with your laptop/wireless device and only have 1 connection configured and always have the best signal strength connection where ever you are located in the house.

What device should look like connected:ISP Modem>Host Router><Lan port out from Host router to Lan port on router turned into an AP><All other Wired or wireless devices can connect to newly created AP from router. (WAN port on router turned into an AP is no longer used. Only the LAN ports can be used.)